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Barton lays down in succeeding sections exact rules governing the duties of surgeons' mates, and devotes a section to a discussion of the expediency of giving surgeons proper military rank. Rationing and diet for seamen is reviewed at length and Barton presents a revised ration "for promoting and preserving health and morals of the seamen in the U. S. naval service." The section devoted to the ventilation and warming of ships emphasizes well-known principles of hygiene governing these subjects and recommends the more extensive use of windsails. He insists upon dryness of lower decks and inveighs against wet scrubbing of them in winter weather, quoting Trotter in support of his contention. The two final sections of the book deal with Barton's ideas regarding the examination of recruits, a matter in which he seems to have been a pioneer in our service, and with plans for improving the health of the men and the comfort of the sick by locating the sick bay further aft, isolating it by partitions, ventilating it "by tubes from the gun or main deck," and furnishing wellslung cots, etc. Other points covered are the proper location of the paint room, to avoid lead poisoning; the selection of a place for laying ships up in ordinary, free from damp and marshy exhalations; the provision of bunting sashes for lower deck ports; providing boats' crews with breakfast before they are sent on shore for wood or water; exercising supervision over "bumboats" to

exclude spirituous liquors; preventing men from drinking river water, when ships are anchored in rivers; that "dancing and musick" be promoted and encouraged among the men; and finally, he closes with the statement: "The most willing cooperation of the commanders and other officers of ships, should always be afforded the surgeon, in any of his plans for meliorating the condition of the men and promoting the convalescence and cure of the sick." In the "Conclusion" he closes as follows: "I conceive that the country has a right to expect from every officer in the service, the result of his experience, if that can in any way lead to the interests of the nation. I therefore tender with unaffected diffidence, my mite towards the general weal." An "Appendix" contains a list of surgeons in the in the navy in the year 1814. The second edition of this book was dedicated to "Daniel Parker, Esq., Adjutant and Inspector-General of the Army of the United States," which apparently was meant to be a public acknowledgement of the patronage accorded the first edition of the book by the Army authorities, who purchased it in quantity. In fact, the Army appears to have purchased more copies than the Navy, if one can judge from the letters printed on the page succeeding the dedication in this edition.

The "Hints for Naval Officers Cruising in the West Indies" was written and published in 1830, immediately following Barton's duty on the "Brandywine." This small volume incorporates in book form two reports made to the Navy Department on "Ardent Spirits in the Ration of Midshipmen," which has been referred to previously, and a "Report on the Means of Preserving the Health of Seamen Previous to a Cruise." To these are added sections dealing with "Use of Tobacco; Clothing; Sleeping; Restriction in Water; Temperance in Drinking and Eating; Miscellaneous Observations; Immunity;" and a section dealing with the natural advantages of

Pensacola as a site for a permanent naval depot. An appendix contains several letters written while on the "Brandywine," touching mainly questions of hygiene. This work, while presenting valuable and interesting material, and necessarily reflecting a more mature experience in the service, does not possess as great a claim to commendatory notice as the preceding, and, moreover, it is

written in a somewhat labored literary style. In the National Gazette, Philadelphia, April 15, 1829, there appeared a notice of a treatise which was stated to be in course of preparation by the author of the "Hints,' entitled "A History of the Navy of the United States." There is no evidence that this work ever reached the stage of completion.

ON THE DEATH OF DR. ROBERT LEVET

Condemn'd to Hope's delusive mine,

As on we toil from day to day,
By sudden blasts or slow decline,
Our social comforts drop away.

Well tried through many a varying year,
See Levet to the grave descend,
Officious, innocent, sincere,

Of every friendless name the friend.

Yet still he finds affection's eye,
Obscurely wise and coarsely kind;
Nor letter'd arrogance deny

Thy praise to merit unrefined.

When fainting nature call'd for aid,

And hovering death prepared the blow

His vigorous remedy display'd

The power of art without the show.

In misery's darkest cavern known,
His useful care was ever nigh,
Where hopeless Anguish pour'd his groan,
And lonely want retired to die.

No summons mock'd by chill delay,
No petty gain disdain'd by pride;
The modest wants of every day
The toil of every day supplied.

His virtues walk'd their narrow round,
Nor made a pause, nor left a void;
And sure the Eternal Master found
The single talent well employ'd.

The busy day, the peaceful night,

Unfelt, uncounted, glided by;

His frame was firm-his powers were bright,
Though now his eightieth year was nigh.

Then with no fiery, throbbing pain,
No cold gradations of decay,
Death broke at once the vital chain,
And forced his soul the nearest way.

SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784).

[graphic]

A PHYSIOLOGICAL ROMANCE

EDITORIALS

There has recently been republished in the "Ideal Bibliothèque" the famous story by Edmond About, "L'Homme à l'Oreille Cassée," which will afford an evening's profitable amusement to the medical man who possesses a reading acquaintance with the French language. It especially deserves attention because of the almost forgotten fact that the idea upon which it is based, that animal organisms if desiccated could be preserved for some time and life restored to them by renewing their moisture, was at one time seriously advanced and maintained. At present we may class it with the theory of spontaneous generation and other exploded myths. The story relates the revivification of a French officer of Napoleon's Army, who had been nearly frozen to death, and in that condition given as a corpse to a German scientist, who proceeded to desiccate him. The supposed mummy is purchased by a young French traveller, brought to France, and there revivified by some of his countrymen. His desiccation had been produced in 1813, under the first Napoleon, his restoration was accomplished in 1859 during the reign of Napoleon III. Many amusing episodes occur and are told with all of About's wit and inimitable style; but the great interest to the medical reader

lies in the extreme minutiæ and the great grasp of scientific details which are shown in the recital of the physiological processes involved in the story. The only book comparable to it in the English language is the "Frankenstein" of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, but the crudities and lack of scientific comprehension of the latter stand out in glaring contrast with the story of the marvellous career of Colonel Fougas. It is a curious reflection how frequently a man of genius can write on can write on a technical or scientific subject with a grasp which compels the admiration of the professional reader, even when the matter of his work is really pseudo-science and not the genuine article. Thus a Kipling can write of the machinery of a ship in a way that no real engineer could emulate, although it is a question whether Mr. Kipling has ever had any practical training in the engine room of a steamer. About writes of his hero as though he had himself spent many arduous years in the physiological laboratory. His book must have appealed strongly to the mind of the lay public at a time when everyone was speculating on the origin of life, and before Pasteur had definitely disproved the existence of any such thing as spontaneous generation.

FRANCIS R. PACKARD.

IER CONGRES DE L'HISTOIRE DE LA MÉDECINE

Le premier Congrès indépendant de I'Histoire de la Médecine et de la Pharmacie se tiendra à Anvers du 7 au 12 août

1920. II coïncidera avec la Kermesse et les Fêtes de la 5o Olympiade.

A la séance de la Société française d'

Histoire de la Médecine du 6 décembre 1919, M. le DR TRICOT-ROYER, l'un des organisateurs de ce Congrès, a donné connaissance du programme ainsi établi provisoirement:

Samedi 7 août:

A 18 heures: Séance d'installation du Congrès. A 20 heures: Réception des Congressistes à l'Hôtel de Ville. Cette réception comporte un raôut agrémenté d'un concert de carillon. Dimanche 8 août:

A 9 heures: Séance.

A 14 heures: Excursion sur l'Escaut avec commentaires sur les installations maritimes, par M. STRAUSS, échevin de la ville d'Anvers. Lundi 9 août:

A 9 heures: Séance.

A 14 heures: Conférence-promenade dans l'église
collégiale Saint-Jacques, par M. l'abbé
GOETSCHALCKX, archéologue et historien.
A 17 h. 12: Séance.

Mardi 10 août:

A 9 heures: Séance.

A 14 heures: Conférence-promenade à travers les salles du Musée des Beaux-arts, par M. Jacques EDAPPERS, homme de lettres.

A 17 h. 2: Séance.

Mercredi 11 août:

A 9 heures: Séance.

A 14 heures: Conférence-promenade, par le DR TRICOT-ROYER, à l'hôpital Sainte-Elisabeth fondé au début du XIIIe siècle.

A 17 h. 2: Séance.

Jeudi 12 août:

A 9 heures: Séance.

A 14 heures: Conférence-promenade au musée
Plantin, par Charles BERNARD, avocat.

A 18 heures: Banquet et clôture du Congrès. Les séances, au nombre de neuf, comprendront des communications sur les sujets suivants:

BIOGRAPHY OF SIR

Lady Osler has requested me to prepare a biography of her husband and I will be most grateful to anyone who chances to see this note, for any letters or personal reminiscences, or for information concerning others who may possibly supply letters.

Copies of all letters, no matter how brief,

1. Ètudes historiques sur l'Assistance publique en tous pays. Dans cet ordre d'idées, M. le Professeur JEANSELME parlera de l'Assistance publique à Byzance.

2. L'Iconographie médicale.

3. La médecine monastique et collégiale en Belgique. 4. Bibliographie de l'Histoire de la Médecine. A ce propos, M. FANIEN, directeur de la bibliothèque municipale de Nancy, étudiera la bibliographie des œuvres médicales qui ont pris naissance en Lorraine.

5. Le mobilier des apothicaires.

6. Epigraphie médicale; continuation de l'œuvre commencée par le regretté professeur BLAN

CHARD.

Les séances se termineront par des notices biographiques ou diverses contributions à l'Histoire de la Médecine; dans cet ordre d'idées, M. le DR DORVEAUX étudiera Pilâtre de Rozier, apothicaire; puis l'Historique de l'eau de la reine de Hongrie. M. WICKESHEIMER parlera de la Sphygmographie médiévale et des médecins belges qui ont étudié à l'Université de Strasbourg.

Les communications, tout ou ou partie, seront réunies en un volume qui constituera le liber memorialis du Congrès.

Des démarches seront faites pour obtenir les réductions d'usage sur les chemins de fer des réseaux français et belges.

Les Congressistes, en raison de l'emcombrement des hôtels, seront reçus, avec leur famille, chez les médecins d'Anvers participant au Congrès. Ils peuvent dès maintenant indiquer le nombre de lits et de chambres qu'ils désirent voir mettre à leur disposition, en s'adressant à M. le DR TRICOTROYER, 106, avenue d'Italie, Anvers.

WILLIAM OSLER

are requested, and if dates are omitted it is hoped that they may be supplied if possible. If the originals are forwarded for copy they will be promptly returned.

HARVEY CUSHING, M.D. Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, Mass.

BOOK REVIEWS

BREVES APUNTES PARA LA HISTORIA DE LA MEDI

CINA; SUS PROGRESOS EN GUAYAQUIL. Por
Gabriel Pino y Roca. Imp. y Papeleria
Sucre, Guayaquil. 1915. pp. 74.

In our summer number of 1917 (p. 217), we called attention to the great advantage of having the separate medical histories of different countries, states, regions, counties and cities written by the individuals best qualified for the task and their publication as a matter of local pride. Dr. James J. Walsh's five volume "History of Medicine in New York," just published, is a fine example of what can be done in this regard, a monument of patient research. The little book with the above title is in the same class; its modest dimensions befit the occasion of its production, since which time, Guayaquil has loomed larger in medico-historical consideration by reason of the fact that it has become the starting point of the investigations of the endemic foci of yellow fever now in progress under General Gorgas and his associates of the Rockefeller Foundation.

The booklet was prepared for the first "Equatorial Medical Congress" (Congreso Médico Ecuatoriano), held at Guayaquil, October 9, 1915. The story begins with the arrival of Francisco Pizarro at Coaque, Peru, in December, 1530, the epidemic of verrugas which attacked his soldiers, the expedition of Alvarado in 1534, the experiences with paludism and the disease called Modorra, which may have been sleeping sickness or encephalitis lethargica; from the foundation of Guayaquil in 1537, the narrative proceeds, in straight, consecutive order, down to the year of Peruvian independence (1822). The history thus covers the colonial period; with the foundation of the Sociedad Medica de Guayas (1837), the

modern period begins. The story abounds in interesting data about the local diseases, the indigenous medical plants, the use of bezoar stones, the medicine of the Incas, the foundation, fortunes and vicissitudes of the first hospital and drug dispensary, and the major epidemics, of which smallpox and yellow fever, sometimes called mal de Siam, were most frequent. Important landmarks are the establishment by Philip II of the Protomedicate of Peru (1570), a tribunal governing all physicians, surgeons, pharmacists and herb gatherers from Panama to Vireynato, the Royal Ordinance of February 12, 1579, forbidding any physician, surgeon, pharmacist, barber or astrologer (algebrista) to follow his avocations without previous examination, and the reopening of the hospital by Friar Gaspar Montero in 1618. The paragraphs and sentences are commendably brief, and the whole narrative is readable.

The foresight of the late William Pepper, of the University of Pennsylvania, in his efforts to establish closer relations between the medical profession in North and South America has been justified by the great progress in that direction made in recent years. Many can recall the earnestness with which he threw himself into the work of organizing the first Pan-American Medical Congress. The labours of many research workers from the United States in South American countries have opened the eyes of many of us to the splendid work which is being or has been done by the native physicians of those countries in many branches of medical work. South America boasts many splendid medical colleges and hospitals, the staffs of which are contributing largely to medical progress.

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